


Don't take for granted

by Hellokaelyn



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 07:08:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16300409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/pseuds/Hellokaelyn
Summary: "Don't ever take someone for granted. We usually don't know what we have until we lose it."- Unknown





	Don't take for granted

_Ellie walked alongside Nick both of them keeping to the streetlights or lights from stores that were still on. Nick was jokingly talking about one of the suspects from the case they just finished, it was always good to find a bit of humor when the case was over, especially the more stressful ones. They had stopped to get a bite to eat and a beer or two before heading to their apartments._

_They were almost to Ellie’s car when she shivered, her heavier jacket sitting in her back seat._

_Nick wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. She smiled at him, curling herself against him the best she could while walking._

_Both of them so relaxed with the alcohol in their systems, they made the mistake of not paying attention to their surroundings as a group of men dressed in black surrounded them._

_Ellie’s last thought before everything went black was the hope that they were in range of one of the store cameras._

* * *

_Slowly Ellie blinked awake, right away realizing she was in a damp stone basement. She tried moving but got nowhere as chains kept her against the wall. Panic started to spread throughout her body._

_Where the hell was she?_

_What happened?_

_Where was-_

_A groan from the other side of the small basement pulled her out of her thoughts._

_Relief spread through her body when she noticed it was Nick. His head was bleeding but he was okay._

_“Nick.” She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear her._

_“Ellie..” He groaned but then seemed to snap out of it. “You okay?”_

_“I’m fine, you’re the one with a gash on your head.” Ellie frowned. She hoped he didn’t have a concussion._

_“Had worse.”_

_She huffed. Of course, the tough guy act._

_Ellie was about to make a sarcastic comment when the door slammed open. A muscled man stepped in, evil grin in place._

_“Well well..I only told my men to get you, Agent Torres but yet they brought me another prize.”_

_It only took seconds for Ellie to notice the look of surprise and recognition on Nick’s face._

_“Hank.” Nick growled out._

_“Nice to see you again Marcos...or should I say, Nick?” Hank made a ‘tsk’ noise. “You fooled me a long time my friend, but it was only a matter of time until I found out who sold me out.”_

_“Let her go. She has nothing to do with this.”_

_“Protective, are we?” Hank glanced at her. “Pretty thing too.”_

_Nick glared at him, Ellie didn’t think she’d ever seen him so angry. A chill went down her spine either from Hank’s words or Nick’s anger she didn’t know. She had dealt with an angry Nick before but never like this._

_“Don’t worry.” He walked over to Nick who was chained to his own side of the basement. Hank yanked on Nick’s hair, his head getting pulled back as he grunted from the pain it caused his already injured head. “You’re the one I wanted, my friend. I won’t touch a hair on her pretty head but I always did enjoy putting on a good show.”_

* * *

_Hours later Ellie was witness to Hank’s ‘show’._

_One of his men came and made sure she kept her eyes open and on Nick as Hank continuously beat Nick whichever way he could. Nick barely made a sound, she figured it was because he wanted to try and spare her his pain._

_She couldn’t help but let out a whimper when Hank and his friend left._

_“I’m fine.” Nick mumbled before spitting out blood._

_“Yeah you’re just fine!” She spat._

_“I’m sorry.”_

_“What?”_

_“Hank only wanted me...I dragged you into this.”_

_Ellie noticed his speech was a little slurred. Panic she felt before surged once more._

_“Don’t apologize!” She wanted nothing more than to go over to him. “It’s not like you knew this would happen.”_

_Nick let out a humorless chuckle._

* * *

_With no way to tell time, she didn’t know how long they had been here. Ellie didn’t think it was more than two days...but it felt like forever._

_Nick had two more beatings since the first one, he barely even reacted to it which only caused her more worry. Was he just that good at hiding it, or did his body become numb to it?_

_“What happened?” Nick asked Hank sluggishly._

_Hank looked up from cleaning his bloody knuckles and smirked. “I had a plan for if I got caught. I did my prison research you can say, blueprints for buildings can be handy when needed along with some helping hands.”_

_“You escaped.”_

_Hank scoffed. “Of course, I wasn’t about to spend the rest of my life in that hellhole. All I had to do was bide my time, let the prison guards get their guard down a little by playing the good little prisoner…”_

_“They’ll find you.” Ellie suddenly said, her jaw clenched._

_Hank grinned. “Maybe you, sweetheart. Poor Nick here won’t last much longer.”_

* * *

_“Ellie…”_

_Ellie felt her eyes water at how weak he sounded. Nick wasn’t supposed to be weak, he was the strongest guy she knew in so many ways._

_“Don’t talk.” She said. “You need to keep your energy.”_

_“No.” He groaned out. “I have to..tell you something.”_

_“Nick..”_

_Before he could say anything else, Hank threw open the door with an angry look on his face._

_Ellie couldn’t help the scream as he charged towards Nick, stabbing him without warning._

_“Nick!” She cried out, tears finally escaping._

_“This is all YOUR FAULT!” Hank shouted, moving to stab him again until Ellie cried out._

_“Stop! STOP!”_

_Hank was panting in anger as he turned to her._

_“Say your goodbyes, blondie.” He spat. “Your little boyfriend’s death is only hours away.”_

* * *

_“Nick.”_

_“Hmm?”_

_“I can’t…” Ellie’s breath hitched. “I need you.”_

_His head lifted the best he could, his eyes drooping._

_“I…” He took a deep breath. “Love you.”_

_Ellie wanted to curl into a ball and sob, something she hadn’t felt for a long time._

_“I love you too.”_

_A sob escaped her when she noticed he passed out again._

* * *

_“Nick!”_

_“Nick please wake up!”_

_“Nick..I love you..please.”_

_“NICK!”_

_Ellie choked on her sobs, her whole body shaking._

_She thought losing Qasim was the worst she felt, then losing Clay...until now._

_“Nick..Nick please…”_

_Ellie’s own cries were the only sound she heard._

* * *

“Ellie!”

“ELLIE!”

A gasp escaped her as she snapped awake, sitting straight up as she tried to remember to breathe.

She felt a hand rub her back, as a glass of water was placed in front of her that she eagerly drank.

“Better now?”

Ellie put the glass on her bedside table before sinking into the person next to her.

“Just remembering.” She mumbled.

Arms wrapped around her, a sigh of content leaving her as she heard his heart beating.

“Can you fall back asleep?”

Ellie shook her head. Images were still fresh in her mind.

“We could...go make hot chocolate?”

She smiled and lifting her head to kiss him.

“You always know just the thing to help.”

He chuckled. “Well..we have been together for two years.”

Ellie swatted his arm. “Okay no need to get all smart.”

“But I _am_ smart.”

Nick ran out of the room, Ellie laughing as she followed him to their kitchen.

Sitting in their kitchen drinking hot chocolate, she thought back to the promise she made to herself while sitting beside Nick’s hospital bed waiting for him to wake up from his medically induced coma.

Her eyes drifted to one of those inspirational wall decor quotes. Ellie had read it and stared at it many times since they bought it.

‘Don't ever take someone for granted. We usually don't know what we have until we lose it.’

It was something she lived by everyday.


End file.
